Rail joint and insert therefor



Sept. 9, 1924. 1,507,770

R. B. FEHR I RAIL JOINT AND INSERT THEREFOR Filed J3me 6. 1923 R. E. F'E'HR' INVENTOR.

Q v Bywl ffngzqt W112? F5 g HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES ROY B. rnna'or CLEVELAND, onto.

RAIL 30mm AND INSERT 'rnnanroa.

Application filed June 8, 1923. Serial No. 643,733.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that LROY B. FEHR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Joints and Inserts Therefor, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. 1 p

This invention relates to railway track joints and is particularly concerned with a joint having a multipart insert between the meeting ends of the rails. The invention also relates to an insert forrail joints composed of a plurality of pieces, some or all of which may be tapered or wedge shaped,

which may be formed to seaton the top of the fish plates and which are preferably composed of metals of different degrees of hardness, for example, some composed of low carbon or soft steel and others of high carbon or hard steel.

In the present practice of joinin the ends of electric railway rails together, by bringing them into more or less close contact and securing them in position by fish plates on opposite sides thereof, with each plate bridging the space between the rails and fastening to eachrail, a space is left between the rails which varies from a small. -m1n1mum to a gap of considerable extent depending upon a number of factors including the care exercised in abutting the rails,

the relative positioning, size and location of the'bolt holes in the fish plates and rails, the smoothness of finish on the rail ends, the angle between the end surfaces of the rails, and the varying atmospheric temperatures during the year.

It has been found that however minute the space between the rail ends may be, car wheels vin'passing along the rails tend to batter or ,peen over the ends of the rails into the space between the rails, thus forming a slight depression in one orboth of the rails which gradually increases and constitutes what is familiarily known as cup- .ping. It is also well recognized that cup- -ping is one of the chief causes 'of'failures of seam-welded joints, which usually involve breaks throughthe fish plates or welded seams, sincethe cupped surface of the rail permits the rolling wheel to deliver a blow to the rail which -must be largely absorbed by the fish plates, and welded seams.

II have found that clipping of the rails may be largely, ifnot entirely,'avoided by the use of a multipart insert assembledbetween the meeting ends of the; rails at the time the joint is being constructed; Furthermore, my improved form of insert possesses many other advantages including the formation of a substantlally GOIltlIlUOllS metal surface between "adjacent rails; the

substantially complete filling of the space between the heads of the rails withpractihead which results in an effect approaching that of acontinuo usrall; good contact be- -;tween the insert parts'and the rail heads cally uniform pressure over the entire rail without excessive compression of the rails; and retentionof, the insertparts in position by friction. Itis equally aswell adapted for use with new rails'aswith old rails.

These and other advantages will be more fully pointed out in the followingspecification,'referen'ce being had therein to the drawings attached to: and accompanying the same, in which Fig. 1 is "a side; elevation of a rail joint constructed in accordance with my inveng I tion. 7

"Fig. 2 is an enlarged end elevation of the form of multipart insert shown in Fig. 1.

Fig.3 is a side elevation of the insert shown in Fig. 2.

Fig.4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. '1 showing the relative position of the rail, fish plate and insert parts when assembled. I a

Fig; 5 isa view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a form of insert for and assembled with a girder rail. I Y Fig. 6 shows a modified form of insert. Referring to Fig. 1 two-aligned, adjacent rails'i'ndicated by 1 are shown with a fish plate 2 spanning the gap between the ends of the rails and secured thereto. A similar fish plate (notshown) is similarly secured.

to the opposite side of therailas will'be 'understood by those skilled in the art. 3 "indicates, as an entirety,"an insert composed' of a central part 4 and side "parts5. The

central part 45 is preferably. shaped to conform to the outlines of the rail heads and is provided with converging, opposite side surfaces 6 which may have various degrees of slope or inclination. I prefer however to incline the surfaces 6 so that thetotal taper of part 4 will lie betweenabout one inch and one-half inch per foot which will gi'vt I angles lying between approximately 2.4

surface. 6, namely, one-half inch to one quarter inch per foot. The inclination of surface 8 is preferably that which conforms to the inclination of the rail end surface, which usually, but not always, is at right angles to the running surface of the rail.- It is desirable though not essential that the insert parts be suitably shaped on their lower edges to conform to and seat upon the top surface 9 of the fish plate which thereby serves as a rest or supporting means for the insert parts during assembly as well as subsequent thereto. It is also desirable 'to have the three parts of the insert protrude about inch above the rail heads after these parts have been driven into place, so that the upper ends of the inserts can be peened over into irregularities in the upper ends of the rails previous to grinding.

I have found it advantageous to form side members 5 of comparatively soft material, for example, low carbon steel, and to form the central part 4 of harder material, for

example, high carbon steel. Then the insert is assembled'and in use, the wide edge of the central part t will be exposed to and in contact with the wheels passing along the rails and will not be worn down more rapidly than the rails themselves The soft material comprising the side parts 5 will be adapted to conform to the surface of the rail ends with which they contact and to engage with substantially the entire surface of the rail regardless of small variations of size or rough surface as well as to form close engagement over practically their entire surface with the central part 4:.

The method of assembling my improved insert and constructing the joints is substantially as follows:

The fish plates having been secured by tightly pulled up bolts to the opposite sides of the rail ends, insert parts 5' of the proper thickness are placed in position and central part at inserted therebetween and driven into the position shown in 1. I prefer to utilize insert parts of such a size that the central part 4 may be inserted by hand approximately'half.way down between the side parts. Such an arrangement requires driving the central part into final position with sufficient force to insure the desired contact the art that I have provided between the outer parts 5 and the rail ends and to create enough friction between the parts to prevent displacement thereof under the usual condition of traffic along the rails. After the central part has been driven into final position the seams are welded, and the protruding top edges of the multi-part insert are peened over. Any rough surface projecting above the top of the rails may be ground or otherwise machin d off to leave a smooth surface.-

If the joint is to be are welded the plates and rails are united by seam metal melted by an are after the insert has been driven into place. Although the insert parts are so shaped as to be capable of remaining in position due to frictional engagem nt of the parts with each other and the rails, they may be additionally secured by welding across them and thus uniting them to the plates.

It will be apparent to those skilled in an which may be readily and; easily assembled in a rail joint. the parts of which will. tend to remain in position -without any additional securing means and which will substantially fill the space between the ends of" the rails throughout the full vertical dimensions of the heads. Thus, regardless of the extent to which the rails will be worn down, the space betweenthe rail ends will always insert i be completely filled and the chief cause of cupping avoided. Furthern'lore', the inclination of the meeting surfaces of the insert parts is such that comparatively littleforce is required to assemble the parts and consequently the rails are placed under only moderate compression, which, in the case of scam welded joints, will not cause excessive stresses in the fish plates or welded seams. The initial. pressure and friction. however tend to remain the same throughout the life although the railhead may be of the rails worn down materially in use.

In Fig. 5 l have shown an insert 10 suited to a girder rail 11 which has a lip 12pmjecting from one side'thereof, the insert being like that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive except that it is shapedto cover the entire end surface of the head ofthe girder rail.

It will be obvious that my in'ventionis substantially parallel side si'irfaces 14 and a wedge shaped central side; part 16 having respectively side surfaces 17 and 18 substantially parallel to surfaces 14 of part 13 and cooperating art 15 and opposite surfaces 19 inclined at an angle to surfaces 1 's. l7 and 18. Su'h an arrangement of parts is advantageous where the space be tween rail ends varies considerably since two wedge shaped parts of standard size may be employed with ajthirdpart of a suitable thickness which may be readily made from standard plate stock with substantially parallel sides. Another advantage possessed by such insert construction is a slightly lower cost as compared with the insert.

shown in Fig. 2.

l have found that my improved insert is practically self sizing if the central part, as t or 15 is provided with substantially square lower edges or corners 20 as contrasted with rounded edges. 1

In repairing old track, particularly, where the space between rail ends varies, it simplifies installation of the insert if the parts are of a size to fit approximately the. larger spaces. When a smaller space .is encountered and the central part tor 15 is being driven between the side parts, the lower corners or edges 20 will tend to shave or cut away enough metal from the side parts to provide an opening of sufficient size to accommodate for the central part without creating excessivepressure on the rails. In this manner the insert more or less automatically adapts its size to the space it is to occupy.

Furthermore I have found that th use of sharp lower corners or edges on the central member is advantageous where the end surfaces of the rails diverge slightly downwardly and where it would ordinarily be difficult to fit the insert closely at its lower end against the rails. By providing either or both side parts with extra thickness at the bottom or by inclining either or both of the side part surfaces which cooperate with the central part at a greater angle than that of the central part I am able to ensure close fit of the insert parts over the entire rail head. After the side parts are assembled and when the central part is being driven down it will shave off enough metal from one or both side parts to provide the desired close fit.

Having thus disclosed my invention as illustrated in one practical form, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed, it being recognized and understood that various changes may be made in the device shown by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of my invention which is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is: v g

1. A rail joint comprising adjacent, aligned rail ends spaced apart, means for securing the rail ends to ether, and a multipart insert completely filling the space between the heads of the rails.

2. A rail joint comprising aligned rail ends spaced apart, means for securing the rail ends together, and a multipart insert completely filling the space bet-ween'ithe heads of the rails, certain of the insert parts having inclined meeting faces.

3. A -rail joint comprising aligned rail ends spaced apart, means for securing the tially filling the space between the heads of the rails. Y 4. A rail joint comprising aligned rail ends spaced apart, fish plates onopposite sides of the rails, seam weld metaljoining bled between the rail ends in a manner to exert compressive force onthe said rails. 6. A rail joint comprising aligned rail ends spaced apart, fish plates on opposite sides of the rails, seam weld metal joining 76 rail ends together, and an insert composed of a plurality of wedge shaped parts substanthe plates to the rails, and a multipart insert substantially filling the space between the I heads of the rails.

7. An insert for a rail joint comprising three parts having inclined meeting surfaces.

8. A multipart insert for a rail joint comprising a central wedge shaped part, and two side wedge shaped parts each composed of material softer than the material in the said central part.

. 9. A multipart insert for a rail joint comprising a central part composed of hard steel and two side parts composed of steel relatively soft as compared with the said central part.

10. A multipart insert for a rail oint conforming in shape substantially to the cross sectional outline of a rail head and adapted to seat on the fish plates when in assembled position in a rail joint, the said insert comprising a central downwardly tapered wedge shaped part and two upwardly tapered v wedge shaped parts arranged on either side of the said central part.

11. An insert for a rail joint comprising a central part and two side parts, the side forming in shape substantially to the cross sectional outline of a rail head and adapted to seat on the fish plates when in assembled position when in the rail joint, the said insert being slightly larger than the rail head,

whereby when the insert is assembled in the parts having engaging wedge surfaces inrail joint it will project slightly above the top of the rail heads.

13. A multipm't insert for a rail joint comprising a tapered central member having 5 subetzmtially square lower edges, and. two

side parts each composed of metal relatively 50ft as compared with the metal of the said central part, one of the aid Side parts being tapered to correspond with the adjacent siirlane of the said central part. 10

"In Witness whereof, I hereuntd affix my signature this 11 day of Miy, 1928.

ROY B. FEHR. 

